art statements

Tina's statement

2012-01-22T23:26:00.001-05:00

The only reason I consider myself an "artist" is because one definition of an artist is "A person whose work shows exceptional creative ability or skill." The part of that definition that lets me know I'm an artist is the part saying "creative ability". I'm not creative in a philosophical or a meaningful sense or any of that kind of deep thinking crap. I'm only creative in the more...lazy sense. I like to be creative in the most obvious ways. My "art" does not take any in depth thought or strange concepts. It's simply whatever my random thoughts formulate.

My favorite thing to draw is stick figures. Most people look down upon stick figures as drawings that are made for novices of art; those who are inept, if you will. But the reason I love to draw stick figures is because you can make them do whatever the hell you want. If you want the stick figure to be a break dancer, you contort the limbs; if you want your stick figure to get hit by a car, you detach the limbs; if you want the stick figure to be a living water raft, you draw no limbs. Your mind can go in an which direction you can think, which is something I love doing: thinking of the weirdest events or scenarios and drawing them. Ideas are so much more pleasing and fun when they're drawn as stick figures rather than opening your trap and telling people that don't care.

I'm an artist because I use stick figures to express the weird shit that I think about in my head. I won't be called insane if they're all on paper...

Katie's statement

2012-01-22T23:25:00.002-05:00

Both dance and film encompasses composition however the latter emphasizes the two-dimensional of a screen while the first focuses on the three-dimensional of a stage. It is the juxtaposition of these plains that interests me. Taking the visceral sensation of the body that dance inhabits and visually demonstrating it through film. Orientation of the body within dance is constantly being altered therefore pinpointing ones direction at any given time is challenging. Camera’s close up shots and postproduction editing successfully portray individuals’ intimate experience while dancing. My goal is to engage not only performing artists through dance for camera films but a wide range of audience members in hope that they associate themselves and their bodies within the piece.

Jen's statement

2012-01-22T23:22:00.002-05:00

"Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls." -Ingmar Bergman

I love film as an art medium because it does exactly that. I use my art to tell stories and create new, and bring out existing emotions. You can say so much with just a little- whether in acting, lighting, music, sounds, or with what you choose not to show. I love the idea that the story I tell can mean completely different things to different people, and that with the same 2 minutes of footage, a whole range of emotions and stories can be evoked. The strength of the piece is in it’s ability to speak to more than one person, and in more than one way. The art of storytelling is such a vital one, so in my works I hope to only grow and dive deeper into the various depths that are there to be explored. What could be more fun or imaginative than creating your own worlds and ideas with a simple piece of equipment and creativity, and bring audiences with you on that journey, even if there’s takes a few different turns along the way. Film is a never-ending fascination, and deliverer of feelings to our souls- whether it hits us over the head, or creeps back into our mind and lingers for awhile after, it is ever more powerful.

Kevin's statement

2012-01-22T23:20:00.003-05:00

I make art because it's what I am good at and it's what I like to do, simple as that. I've been drawing ever since I was in the first grade and sort of always knew that art was something I wanted to keep in my life as I got older. Now that I am older I can say that I made the right choice. Having had opportunities to work with all sorts of different mediums that I may have never even considered art at one point has been something I am very grateful for. It has brought challenges that I never imagined I would face, as well as many chances to experiment and see what I can create. I hope to learn all that I possibly can through art and continue making it so long as I am able.

Austin's statement

2012-01-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

My work is built from what we think we know about the world. By “we” I am referring to the prejudices that all humans hold. Humanity has a rich history of prejudice, tribalism, and short-sightedness. It is our greatest natural resource. I build objects and narratives that offer both myself and the viewer a chance to consider potential errors in how we imagine our relations to each other and to the natural world. To facilitate this goal the art hijacks our dominant cultural narratives and subverts technologies developed for commercial or martial success: implements of destruction and terror become means of propagating native wildflower seeds in urban areas; a gas mask filter is replaced with wheat grass; and the human who commits acts of terror is considered as a human and not as a two-dimensional villain. Through examining our assumptions about the world I hope to learn to see the world more clearly.

Bill's statement

2012-01-22T23:19:00.002-05:00

I make art to deal in systems, the patterns and processes unfolding around us. In particular, I am fascinated by the systems behind the "natural," outward landscape and the inward mental landscape. They brush coarsely against one another. The mind constructs its own systems, which grasp, contain, and manipulate the former. We put values on land; we plough it for crops; we flatten mountain ranges for coal. By contrast, the landscape outside the mind makes few demands. Instead, it almost uniquely offers the mind release from its frantic loops. For whatever reasons, the mind eases up before the varied patterns of nature. Taken together, these two landscapes form an ecology of noise and silence, central to human beings split between calm and frenetic activity. We rest in ourselves; or we scrambled before the storm, building shelter, then cities, then networks of machines and computers, extending our own scattered minds into the physical landscape. Art, by offering the chance for more acute seeing or just a quick rest, can trouble the mind. This may, hopefully, open it to the silence of the outward landscape. My art's not so vast, of course. But for a moment my own frenetic activity suspended me between the two extremes. I had a camera, and got a little perspective later. Enjoy.

Andrew's statement

2012-01-22T23:14:00.001-05:00

My art is simple yet profound. It tackles issues in a way that makes people examine themselves. It is subtle, but thought provoking. The aim is to make the world a better place. A simple message can provoke a thought that spawns an idea which can be brought into action. Those actions change the world. My action is my art.

Kaycee's statement

2012-01-22T23:06:00.002-05:00

Almost every piece I make is about what it is like in my head. Sometimes it is something that happened at work. Sometimes it is something I was annoyed about. Sometimes it was just about emotions. Sometimes it is about one particular person. I really wish that the things I make myself say in my work were things I could make myself say out loud. That is a big part of my work. The all unutterable. If I can’t say it out loud, then maybe I can make someone understand without needing to say it.

Alan's statement

2012-01-22T23:06:00.000-05:00

Growing up with a heavily musical background, I have almost always associated my creative endeavors with the auditory realm. Recently as I've begun to sink into the video world, my mind is being opened up to so many more possibilities to combine the two in ways that can evoke very specific reactions, and I can't see a limit to expressing myself using music and video now. One of things that I've somewhat realized is that creativity is really no different that any other skill. It increases with practice, and when not being exercised, can be lessened or lost with time. People aren't born with massive amounts of creativity, and likewise people can become more creative with practice. And the process of creating, and learning, is probably more of a reward than the end product sometimes. I don't know, my art up till now hasn't had much of an end goal; I've mainly just been creating it for it's own sake. There might come a time when I look back on now and appreciate what I have, because if I ever start making money off art I might not get as much freedom! In the end, art is pretty much who I am. My job doesn't define me, my money doesn't, my relationship status doesn't; if some says tell me about yourself, I will respond with, "Oh yeah, I really like to make art!"

Justin's statement

2012-01-22T23:04:00.001-05:00

I want to create the images that are in my head. Once I create something I can let the idea go or if it’s a good idea I can expand the thought. For now this is the extent of the reason why I create art.

Link's statement

2012-01-22T23:03:00.002-05:00

It's hard to say whether art is more impacted by inherited genetics or by exposure from others who share it first and everyone approves. I can only speak for myself, but I don't think creativity is something that's exclusive to the idealists, where the rest of the world are spectators wanting more. I find Art to be some sort of power that people take for granted because it isn't a calculated asset or a number of years of experience. I find art, GOOD ART, to be more of an accident than a measure of creative skill, especially in the magnitude of the world's reception. If someone indulges in their own creative accidents enough, they can take their knowledge and wisdom and experience and utilize it for something that is and always will be something that just simply happens from the heart: a beautiful idea.

There have been numerous, numerous times when someone like myself thinks they have an immaculate idea, only to lack the ability to harness it, control it, shape it, and present it the way I want people to see it. Even then it can still be an accidental failure or success because I'm simply not in complete control. I'm not running the show, I'm not the Deus Ex Machina of all that is Art, but I'm a perspective all to my own that I can keep secrets, let those secrets brew and sneak around, and perhaps at the right time (or even by ignorance of it's effectiveness) slit the throats of the leather-necked audience that wasn't expecting something this amazing. Sometimes it will be to everyone, and sometimes it's just popular, and you don't know why.

You can't be upset if you make something accidentally and the world roars in it's success. It's the emotion that counts. The idea you threw out was sloppy but still from the heart, a source that isn't just a blood pumping organ, but a crux of feelings and thoughts and emotions that we can't put a finger on why it exists exactly. That's the essence of your life, it's a door to your soul where you jam your hand in and pull stuff out and try to figure out what it is or why it's important, and that's the very same stuff that others put into their hearts and kiss it goodnight. There's a science to it sometimes, sure. You need your brain to visualize what comes from your heart, and Art is a deadly mission between those two things, your mind and your soul.

Those two commandos can be lone wolves, but a joint strike can be planned, sure.
If it's just the soul, it'll accidentally get through things without a scratch, only to fear getting hurt the next time or scared of what more is expected. If it's just the mind, it'll have a bulletproof plan, but fears that planning it all just won't be enough to make it out okay.

When you have both together, you complete the objective, and you aren't responsible for sending letters home to widows.

Kevin's statement

2012-01-22T22:59:00.002-05:00

The reason I'm an artist is for the feeling that comes with creation. To have ideas in my head, and to watch them manifest themselves into something physical, something tangible, is what really makes art worthwhile. I like to create things that express my views, thoughts, and ideas about day to day life, and I hope that with my art, someone will either be able to relate to it, or they will draw inspiration from it, as I have from so many others. I feel that everything around me has something that needs to be appreciated, and that via any kind of medium, I need to help show that. And when it finally happens, and someone else sees the intricacy in the littlest things, that makes me feel like I have done my job as an artist.

Julian's statement

2011-11-20T17:13:00.000-05:00

My art is selfish and self-indulgent. It does not care if you are aware of it, or if it holds any meaning for you. In this way it is a guilty pleasure. It is not an exercise in self-exploration. It is not an exercise. My art is about the idea. It is about externalizing that idea before it becomes confused, muddled, or forgotten. It is consuming. My art is a willful manipulation of the soul; it intensifies, it dulls. It is wistful and nostalgic, and being so, is often yearning and sometimes brooding. It exists to define an idea and to control a sentiment.

My art is selfless and generous. It cares about spreading awareness on issues, and making those issues emotionally charged for the audience. In this way it is philanthropic. It is also an exercise in self-exploration, a careful exercise in discovery. My art is about the moment. It is about recording that moment as I experience it, taking note of the mood. It is fleeting. My art is a spontaneous manipulation by the soul; it rises, it falls. It is whimsical and optimistic, and being so, is often light and sometimes witty. It exists as an idea and a sentiment.

Corey's statement

2011-11-20T16:50:00.002-05:00

I make art because I am compelled to do it. By demons. They live in my brain, but sometimes they take a boat through my blood straight down to my heart and they vacation there. Demons get a bad name. Probably because of the Bible, which is bullshit, but most people don't like to hear that. I like my demons because they make me think things that are different than the things I am supposed to think. For example, when I hear Joe Cocker's cover of Help From My Friends at a bar, I should remember The Wonder Years and then just get drunk. Instead, the demons remind me about the last episode of The Wonder Years where Winnie and Kevin get stuck in the rain on a long desolate road, and they go inside a barn and have a fight, but then they end up laying in the hay and making love. And the camera cranes out and Kevin's adult voiceover tells us that they never saw one another again, and then Kevin's children ask him to go out and play. My demons remind me that I am a melancholic depressive, and the thought of living in that barn in that moment with those people who loved each other so much but couldn't ever be together was the most horrible and wonderful thought I'd ever experienced as a child. My demons compel me to get out a sheet of paper and make a drawing about this incident. Everyone else at the bar keeps drinking and belting out that hilarious part of the song where Joe goes all crazy like, "Waaaaaaaaaooooooooah!" but I'm sitting there in a sketchbook, letting time fly by and letting my Imperial Russian Stout get warm. Which is okay, because it tastes a little better at room temperature.

Kolleen's statement

2011-10-01T10:01:00.002-05:00

I do not see myself as an artist, I see myself as a filmmaker. Calling myself an artist adds pressure to the work that I want to create. I feel like there is an outline that artist have to follow, which is to make their art abstract and unique. When someone sees my video, I want them to think that it is unique, but I want them to be able to understand the point that I am making and not have to guess the point. I am a filmmaker because it is a way to tell stories that have not been told through my eyes and with my vision.

Rashida's statement

2011-10-01T09:44:00.001-05:00

My decision to go into film stemmed from my appreciation of all forms of art. The amazing thing about film is that it is a combination of photography, music, theatre, literature through dialogue, fashion and costume design, and even animation and graphic design. I have always been a very visual person so any medium that allows me to express myself visually naturally draws me in. My decision to go into film, particularly cinematography, as a career rather than a hobby is largely influenced by my experiences with being misrepresented in film and television and my knowledge of the marginalizing effect that this has on misrepresented groups. With my career in film, I aim to give a voice to the groups who have been previously silenced, misrepresented, or rendered invisible.

Chris' Statement

2011-10-01T09:37:00.000-05:00

I believe art emerges from a want and or need to solve a problem creatively and not just a black and white fix. Whether it be to create something for personal enjoyment or for a more commercialized reason, putting together a design and creating a work of art with tangible things to me represents a form of beauty and satisfaction. Ever since I was a child I discovered the enjoyment of creating and manipulating things into artwork. I used to design complex models with Popsicle sticks when I was 9 years old. I can pretty much say my first works of art were incorporating the essentials, composition and proportion, building blocks which directly influence me still today. My parents encouraged my creativity by sending me to CCAD classes on the weekends when I was young. They still encourage me today by buying me the occasional computer accessory and supplying words of wisdom.

As an artist and an aspiring digital graphic artist, I have enjoyed exploring new and sometimes difficult mediums. While I have always had an innate ability to form art with my hands through drawing and sculpting, I have always pushed myself to explore and work with numerous mediums ranging from a simple piece of charcoal to create a drawing, to powdered glass to created glass sculptures. As I began my official education to become a digital artist I felt that designing would be a natural extension of my drawing and sculpting abilities as well as my way of thinking. I came to find out it was much harder to not have something tangible to form with your hands, and have it just be displayed on a screen. During my time as a student I found that all of the challenges I faced in the classes and on the computer made me appreciate how much work and thought it takes to make something that you are so disconnected from into a thing of beauty. Sometimes I draw out a quick sketch of an artwork I will create, but more often I don't, I often fit together visually aesthetic parts of a work to form it into a more composed and complex work of art. I build around the initial piece in layers, placing more objects into the artwork and increasing its complexity and depth.

One artist that inspired me is Stacy Reed. She is a digital artist as well as a photographer. Stacy said “ Chaos. Infinity. Immortality. The idea that there is something beyond what we know, something larger than our existence, yet perhaps something as simple as a single string of code. These concepts fascinate me and provide the foundation of my passion for fractals.” I feel her complexity is much more ordered and thought out than mine, but it is definitely the concept I strive for. Her concept of being apart of something greater and greater allows her and me to be more inspired to create the illusion of depth, figuratively and or conceptually, in our work. I add, bit by bit, until I feel that I have accomplished something worth my effort. The work is finished when what I imagined is on the page or screen.

It is very hard for me to describe my personal idea of what art is, as it changes from every new class I take to every new program I learn. I enjoy artistic challenges, each of which I try to put forth all of my creative energy. My work as an artist propels my imagination allowing me to think of new and exciting possibilities. “Our imaginations lead to our creations” Chris Zajd. For example, my digital work called Under The Bed resulted from the idea of another world existing within our own. The light bulb moment happened when I imagined a cross between the movies Toy Story and Cars. The difference is that I had to give the cars emotional qualities and character with out the aid of movement or animation. The art I create is imaginative, with many levels of layers and or meanings, and expressive and I feel that it’s that type of artwork that I appreciate the most from other artists.

Chris' statement

2011-10-01T09:33:00.001-05:00

A
Apple
A peel
A peal
Appeal
Appealing

I want to create blank canvasses or clean slates; using subjects/objects/concepts that are so full of meaning, carrying so much baggage they have become white noise, absent of meaning and ripe for reinterpretation.

Sarah's statement

2011-10-01T09:32:00.002-05:00

Projection, reflection, repetition, inversion, and reversal have all been consistent formal and conceptual elements of my work. These things all have an effect on perception, and disrupt our expected notions and assumptions about objects and spaces. I often begin with a process of examining the assumptions that I make about the environments and objects around me. Often, a simple shift in how I choose to define something provides fertile territory for exploration. My work is an ongoing attempt to create a real space in which fictional worlds can exist. I make installations, short films and videos that immerse the viewer in a space, and often due to the universally recognizable imagery of these spaces, (a sea-side village, a desert landscape) these works seem to operate somewhere between the personal memory of a place and the collective memory gained through cultural representation of a place. I strive for a simplicity within my work, and my methods are very intuitive. I'm interested in finding ways to give film and video a physicality, whether through installation, projections, or approaching film-making site-specifically. For me, film and architecture are very related. The permeability of a building is often overlooked, but walls, floors and ceilings often provide only a thin barrier between us and the movements and noises of our family, or neighbors. I believe my ability to block out the movements of my neighbors is linked to the suspension of disbelief on which film is dependent.
In And Then, You Act (New York, NY: Routledge, 2007), theater innovator Anne Bogart quotes Romanian director Andrei Serban as once saying, “[Theater] does not really happen on the stage. It happens in the audience’s head.” The ability of the human mind to internalize both illusion and reality with the only real difference being how they are each contextualized is at the root of my work.

Troy's statement

2011-10-01T09:30:00.001-05:00

well what i want to portray in my art whether its through video, drawing, or sculpture i wanted to show that simplicity is a great tool in creating ideas and delivering messages. to me being complex and having to much stuff in artwork can sometime cover the message an artist wants to provide to it's viewers. to me being an artist is almost like being a cook, you can use fancy ingredients, add layers upon layers of toppings, but sometimes or usually it takes away from the star in the dish. if you want to show people how well you can cook fish, then the fish should stand out the most in your meal, not the toppings. Art is the same way, so i try to simplify sometimes my artwork so that most individuals whether you have an intensive art background or not you can still enjoy my art just as much as someone who does have an intensive background in art. so to put it simple the message i want to give is, "this is me" hate it or love it.

Farah's statement

2011-10-01T09:29:00.000-05:00

For some art could be a painting, for someone art could be a music, but for me art is my imagination. I like to create a new way of art using materials in an unexpected way to be creative and unique in some unusual ways. I don’t like to involve so many people when making an art; actually I prefer to work with myself and no one else. It is hard to share your idea with someone else and expect him to understand it the way you think of it. Sometimes it is hard to explain your work to someone because it reflects your subconscious mind. I’m satisfied with my work “In my wonder head” because I controlled and work in each single detail by myself. If I didn’t like something I did, it is easy to fix it with satisfaction, but if I didn’t like something others did in my project it is hard to complain about it. I like Photoshop a lot that sometimes I wish I can Photoshop my life to be perfect. My friends call me photos solutions manual because I always find solutions to their photos through Photoshop. I prefer working with small art projects that are smaller than me because that give me the feeling of control over my works. I cannot decide which colors I prefer to use with my art works because it depends on the place, time, mood, feelings, and the imagination I am thinking of when doing my art work. When people see my work I would like them to think of these five things I mentioned, I want them to think a lot and ask little. The hardest thing to explain for me is to explain my art works.

Abigail's statement

2011-10-01T09:27:00.002-05:00

I am an artist that focuses on questioning social convention in societies. I focused on religion in class, challenging why so many of us accept the idea of religion and it’s structure. Is it possible to believe in god and not religion.

I don’t want to enforce an idea on anyone but to get them to see something from a different angle without judgment, and being open to the fact that we as a society interpret things differently as time goes on, but that it is not necessarily right just different.

Tarzan's statement

2011-10-01T09:26:00.000-05:00

When I make art I want to create thought, whether or not its good or bad. Also I make art for myself, an not for others. I believe it art is like a voice, it yours and not someone else's.

Janelle's statement

2011-10-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

I create art for truths that I cannot define with words because words are either inadequate or do not exist. Practically speaking, this could be seen in a portrait where a strength or emotion lingers under the surface, or with a piece that asks more questions than it gives answers. I also inject a certain amount of pointed humor in my work to either make the viewer laugh or to be taken aback by my point of view.

I typically use photography to make my work, but video overcomes some of the limitations of still photography. I enjoy being able to communicate with the viewer differently. I feel that photography can tell a story, but it’s based on inferences from a still or group of stills. Video allows for further communication, and allows for a full range of expression in its immediacy.

Allison's statement

2011-10-01T09:24:00.003-05:00

I think people are really interesting and whenever I watch movies or read I am usually more interested in the characters than the plot. I want my art to be focused on people and their emotions and development. I am not very interested in adding sound effects or music because I feel that too many varied sounds can detract from the images I want my audience to focus on.

Melissa's statement

2011-10-01T09:24:00.001-05:00

I use art to try and make sense of my life. To give order to the chaos of my past and to give purpose to what interests me. I’m not sure if it’s working, but it’s all about the attempt.

Jeneane's statement

2011-10-01T09:23:00.000-05:00

I’ve been working on this idea about a collage. Not a typical paper college but the concept of a collage—getting information, cutting it up and putting it together again: Turning it into a different message. For me, this is what art is all about. It’s about that collage process and that communication. First I see things in my environment and then I record. This is the base information, and I can break it down or combine it with something parallel or even completely unrelated. What I hope to accomplish with this process is making the end product say something more meaningful than mundane, or to highlight connections and contradictions between abstract objects and humanity.

Samantha's statement

2011-10-01T09:20:00.002-05:00

Art is a personal statement that I use to express my ideas through. It is important for me to show a perspective of the human that differs from the reckless co-modification of its spirit. I feel that the world is caught up in greed, commercialism, and materiality that it overlooks the essence of what we are as human beings. We are meant to be expressive, we are meant to experience the world through our senses, we are meant to build a community together. I have been searching for my calling, what I have destined myself to do. I wish to show people that the potential of the human mind is beyond our current state of comprehension. I want to inspire people to live to their fullest potential, and cast aside anything that confines them. I seek to serve the greater good of humanity, to inspire and cultivate the wellspring of innovation of the creative mind. I question, through various artworks, What and Whose purpose do you serve?

Michael's statement

2011-10-01T09:19:00.002-05:00

I participate in a very left-brained world. Everything has to make sense and fit a logical flow. Numbers control everything that I do. Therefore, I use art to explore my creative side which is often suppressed in classes and jobs based on quantitative ideas. I have my own ideas floating throughout my head which are a lot more abstract. Art is my channel to release my thoughts and feelings. Video is my medium of choice. Sometimes I do not have a purpose of making videos, yet I sit down and create. Create something. Anything. There is something about this act that is soothing in an otherwise stressful world.

Adrian's Statement

2011-08-14T21:06:00.002-05:00

As an artist at heart and an artist by nature, I have always had a mysterious attraction to the visual medium. However, most of my artwork, if not all of it, is merely pencil-on-paper action, so to speak. That said, I have asked myself several times, "What would other art styles be like?" Therefore I aspire to try other mediums of art aside from simple drawing and coloring, including animation, video, and sound.
While stereotypical artists view the objects around them as simply things to draw, I view them as things of beauty and value. Anything can be a trigger for the creative spark, be it in its shape, motion, color, or style. But I can also testify to the fact that there is more to art than just the objects involved. I see it as a tool for the imagination, for speaking the creative mind. In the past my artistic spark took over a lot of my daily life, but ever since I started drawing I have learned to harness it for my own good.

In sum, art is my life. Therefore, I strive to live through art.

Whitney's Statement

2011-08-14T21:05:00.001-05:00

Many people create art to express feelings or their personality. Some create art for others to purchase or enjoy. Some just like to use their medium as a source of letting out emotion, rather it be anger, happiness or mere melancholy. I, on the other hand, like to make my viewer question the meaning of my work. My art isn't just for me, it's for others to interpret. That is my favorite thing to hear-people's opinions on what my work means. I want to effect and change people's negative opinion of what art is and is not. Simply put, I make art because I feel like it. If I'm inspired, I do something about it.

Nicklaus' Statement

2011-08-14T21:03:00.002-05:00

In my art I try to question the typical explanation of what is beautiful in our world. And to reassess what we hold to be traditional, rational, and beautiful to better open our minds to a highly diverse world and all that it has to offer.

Neil's Statement

2011-08-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

Growing up the youngest of three in a small town, I frequently created my own means of amusement. Years later and I continue to channel this creative process, evolving it more specifically to focus on art. Daily, I appreciate my freedom and flexibility to produce art based upon my personal experience and preferences. In my opinion, to possess this talent is a huge blessing, gift, and opportunity to impact others.

Art can be interpreted in countless ways, making it unique to each viewer. My art is an outward expression of my life experiences, memories, and emotions. From the stories represented in my art, the viewer creates a new story to be shared.

I am interested in how people create memories, how memories evolve, and how they influence others. Many ideas and interests come from my involvement with community service. The infectious nature a positive attitude and selfless action has on our surroundings is incredible. My artwork urges viewers to reflect on their life and positively transform their lives and environment.

Brandon's statement

2011-06-13T20:56:00.001-05:00

I’ve come to love the process of creating and learning at the same time. The struggle to learn new software one particular day, for instance, is always offset by a newfound ability to present my vision to others a little more clearly. I love to learn because it helps me create. And I love to create because it helps me learn!

Robert's statement

2011-06-13T20:55:00.003-05:00

Stories are very important to me. I usually find myself reacting more strongly to fictional stories than to things that happen in real life. By controlling the way a story is told, the audience is pushed into feeling however the storyteller intends, assuming the storyteller knows what they are doing. Events or characters that normally would not be interesting can be made interesting by the storyteller's techniques, and stories can make people feel that they've experienced things that they really haven't, like fighting in a war or turning into a cat, or even getting to know, or even love, a person that doesn't exist in our reality. I also like using stories to expose people to new ideas or to my viewpoint of the world, and to make them feel what I feel when I come up with stories.

At the other end, art can put people in a position that they might not otherwise ever occupy. An individual image can create an entire world in the mind of the viewer and put them in that world. I particularly enjoy the horror genre for showing people scary or disturbing things/ideas, I think because of my view of the world and a desire to show the easily-satisfied, mindless zombie masses the truth (although it's also true that I tend to find most kinds of monsters visually and conceptually pleasing). I also love science fiction for showing worlds that currently do not exist but are theoretically possible, or even likely in the future. By the same token, I only find myself interested in fantasy when the storytelling techniques are strong enough; things have to be based in reality or I don't feel a connection. Basically, art can give people strong experiences that they otherwise would not have, potentially affecting them for life.

Everything outside of that would simply fall into pure aesthetic pleasure with nothing more behind it (not that there necessarily needs to be).

Betsy's statement

2011-06-13T20:52:00.001-05:00

As an artist and as a person I am interested in the beauty of the every day, mundane world around us. I want to remember the sort of magic and wonder each day held when I was a small child, like the way a sunset can turn a dull room into brilliant fiery gold or the hush brought by a snowfall. While I may be an adult I do not have to leave behind what it felt like to be a child existing in a land of fantasy and wonderment, and I feel my art reflects this. The things that we see every day are often the most beautiful, and with my art I try to express that feeling of beauty without forgetting the reality that created it.

Meagan's statement

2011-06-13T20:51:00.002-05:00

I like to make art that is about other people. I like to draw
strangers in restaurants and record candid conversations. I don't
really care if that is creepy. I like to see how other people
construct a self through narratives. I like seeing what people will do
in different situations; I like doing experiments. I want all of this
stuff to be intimate bordering on embarrassing for me and for them,
but in a nice way. I like it when people try to explain things they
believed when they were little kids. I like that lo-fi shit. I like to
do interviews. I like letting other people make art.

Rae's statement

2011-06-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

Typically a sculptor, I find myself drawn to materials. I enjoy struggling with material, responding to each media’s unique properties and characteristics as I wrestle it into a new form. Typically, I reject intermediary tools that separate my hands from material, preferring to handle media as directly as possible. Tools, including computer programs, seem coldly efficient to me. There is something sterile and unfeeling about clicking a cursor on a glowing screen, something awkwardly alien about holding a cold plastic drill that tethers me to an outlet. When approaching something as intangible as video, which exists only in the digital realm, I must think in an entirely different way. Concept overrules aesthetics, and my discomfort forces my attention inwards.

Starting with one of the most basic and fundamental themes of self-introspection, this video examines identity. Referencing portraiture and role-playing, I am exploring the relationship between individuals as they mirror one another and assume aspects of the other. My interest is in posing questions by creating a visual loop that confuses and disorients the viewers, leaving it up to them to come to their own conclusions.

Tammy's statement

2011-06-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy nature and all the abundance that mother nature offers to us on a daily basis. I also enjoy abstraction and love photographs. I think that we live in such a self-inflicted busy, look at our phone, addicted to Facebook, check email 100 times a day,etc. environment that we can easily take for granted all of the beauty and the wonderful textures, colors, reflections, shadows, light and even the smell of rain. I am fascinated by the elements of the earth.
How each individual perceives life is based on their experiences but I believe that a person's perceptions and awareness can be awakened to appreciate the most minuscule and amazing wonders all around them.

Jess' statement

2011-06-13T20:48:00.002-05:00

I find myself drawn to simple overlooked beauties; the bare human figure, the mark of a pencil or piece of charcoal, the shading of a smooth, worn rock, or the organic nature of pasta boiling. Often times they are seen as boring, or hold no interest in relation to the graphic nature that has become the world around us. Everywhere we turn, there are images demanding our attention, over the top, bright, bold, and intriguing. Visual culture has gotten progressively saturated with ‘attention-getting’ ploys and images, and I think it is the overload of this that attracts me to simplicity.

I have explored multiple mediums, techniques, and concepts and was able to grow and develop my own personal style and preferences to the point where I would be confident in any independent work I may explore. I find using unusual and different materials intriguing. I’m interested in aesthetically pleasing and traditional forms of artmaking, and view art as fun. I do not plan on changing the world with my art, I do not even plan on changing anyone’s opinions about any specific idea with my art. I think that by making lighthearted, enjoyable art, I will attract an audience that is fun loving and enjoyable to be around.

A word I often use to describe my work is ‘loose’. I feel that not only do I wish my work to hold the essence of things naturally beautiful, but believe it should be a natural process as well. The fact that I love my sketches so much also alludes to the idea that I love the feeling of looseness. Sometimes I prefer the look of the sketch over the final piece that the sketch was made for because it holds more of the essence of what I am trying to portray, rather than visually describing it. When my work is to the point where it needs a little boost to look “complete” is when I like it the most. This has been true for almost my entire college career and I still to this day am not sure why that is. I think to capture the essence of an object, you cannot tell the whole story; that is you cannot show the object in fine detail because then there is no element of obtaining a feeling of understanding the object if it is perfectly and detailed described for you. I do not want my viewers to “get it” and move on quickly, I want them to take a moment to appreciate the beauty in the line and simplicity and although there is little shown, still understand the essence of the piece and feel the movement within it.

In sum, I find interest in nature and in the natural overlooked beauties that surround our everyday life. The flashiness of graphics and visual culture we see everyday are too much for me, and I like to go back to the basics and reveal the essence of simple, natural, subtle beauty. Some of my best work can be found in my sketches, or studies, of these naturally beautiful things because I prefer the look of looseness over precise, taught, “complete” works.

Drew's statement

2011-06-13T20:46:00.001-05:00

I believe my art is based on all of the movies I wanted to make when I was younger but never had the resources or knowledge to be able to make one. These ideas from my childhood are mix in with my concepts and abilities that I have now as a college student. I always like to incorporate childhood playfulness into my work and life, which allows me to not take myself to seriously and enables me to laugh at myself.

Along with laughing at myself I have always liked making others laugh or a least smile. It is healthy to laugh and I believe that as we get older responsibilities and priorities change and people forget that with work there should be fun. My mission in my work is to try and get people to take a break for a moment and remind them of a simpler time like childhood.

Ellen's statement

2011-06-13T20:44:00.002-05:00

I am an artist because I consider art and creativity to be one of the most enriching activities a human can participate in. Occupations in the medical field or food production are necessary to keep people alive; art is the reason people want to be alive. As an artist, I want to provide life fulfillment to others and myself through creation, participation, and presentation.

I hope to be able to evoke emotions through my art by creating sensory qualities or environments. In other cases, I hope to entertain or intrigue audiences, or instill a certain curiosity within them. There are images and instances in my life that seem to be highlighted in my mind, and I want to share these ephemeral instances with others. By sharing them, I prolong the existence of these special moments. I can construct narratives through art, and others can relate to these narratives with their own experiences.

Chigozie's Statement

2011-05-16T16:46:00.000-05:00

I say that Art is an expression of Something--whether it is an idea, an image, or a feeling. Art brings that out of the person so that it can be experienced by others.

Queenie's Statement

2011-05-16T16:27:00.003-05:00

My art is selfish and I don't make it on demand. It's a creative abstraction of life. It's a puzzle I make that the viewer must solve through analysis of the piece. My art is a small universe of which I am the god - I make the meaning and I know the answers. Although there can be several interpretations of a single piece, there ARE correct and incorrect conclusions. Interpretations that fit within my original intended theme are the correct ones. Slop doesn't count and I can't take credit for it. If you like your interpretation better than mine, that's fine - but you're still wrong.
I have no "formal training" in art and it's not my profession nor obsession. I make art but I am not an artist in the sense that everyone who swims isn't a swimmer. My art takes advantage of its medium such that the same piece could not be rightfully experienced outside of its original context.

Arianna's Statement

2011-05-16T16:24:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I cannot help making art. I find countless inspirations in the ordinary world around me. To me, making art is about taking what is already there and presenting it in a way that makes natural qualities more prominent to a viewer. I think the best way to get through life is to have a sense of humor and an admiration for beauty(because how else could you endure all the tragedy and injustice.) There are so many quirks, oddities and ironies in today's society and I like to include them in my art, subtly. I make art to share my point of view, so others can enjoy the beauty and humor of the world as much as I do.

Elizabeth's Statement

2011-05-16T16:23:00.003-05:00

All I have are moments.

Moments are what I frame, capture and have published to create a connection between those moments and the audience. My goal is to produce an immediate and lasting connection between the subject and the audience, thus promoting a reaction, and hopefully action, from the audience. As my medium is changing (newspapers) and the audience is more and more bombarded by information, I am struggling to find the most poignant way to still get that connection and reaction. I never considered myself an artist in the artistic sense; more like a visual story teller, an editor of situations and most importantly: a shameless agitator.

Mike's statement

2011-05-16T16:22:00.001-05:00

I’ve never thought of myself as an artist. Do I enjoy art? Do I wish I thought of myself
in that way? Yes, of course. I am majoring in film, which is considered a form of art,
so it’s interesting that I did not think of myself as an artist until asked to complete
this assignment. My focus is film is editing because that is where I feel most
comfortable and what enjoy the most. After the director I believe that the editor
has the most control over a film. The more I edit the more I notice how little details
within the editing process are so important. An editor either takes their own or
someone else’s work and molds into what they believe will work best. So in the end
I see myself as an artist who works as a medium for someone else’s art to reach it’s
potential. With every transition and effect I use on a project I mold it into something
all my own

Josh's Statement

2011-05-16T16:16:00.002-05:00

My thoughts are my art, and writing literature, creating video or digital images, or capturing photographs is my practical attempt to understandably express my thoughts. My goal is to have the thoughts be ambiguous, not the creation; therefore, my work has nonnegotiable, practical goals to achieve.

Sarah's Statement

2011-05-16T16:09:00.004-05:00

Often I am trying to reflect a personal experience or memory. To make physical something that is conceptual, a dream, a memory, or a feeling transformed into a reality. Through the experience of creating these objects representing emotions a little piece of my self is revealed. It is my method of seeking and finding the self through the creative process and revealing my sub conscious ideas about my self and how I interpret life.

My personality denotes a very emotive approach to experience, understanding and response. I consider the emotions to be one of the only things in life that are solely individual and honest. In my work I try to transform an emotional experience into the physical realm. Like the Abstract Expressionist uses brush strokes or fields of color to communicate emotions I use form and object as brush stroke. Sometimes working more formally and minimalistic and sometimes more conceptual and chaotic, it all depends on the feeling of what I am trying to express. Through the process the form is revealed and often, something also revealed to the form where a moment of reconciliation and understanding is apparent. I want to create for the viewer an honest feeling, whatever it may be.

Through feeling and acknowledgment we find truth in ourselves and our identity.

Dennis' Statement

2011-05-16T16:03:00.005-05:00

As with any artist, I appreciate things. What those things are, are what separates myself from the other thousands of artists staking their claim in vast frontier of modern art. I am drawn to appreciate things that seemingly uplift the spirit that all of us humans are intrinsically imbued with.

No matter the faith or the culture, we can all agree with the idea of everything living embodying a certain energy/life force/spirit; It is with this energy that we are able to dictate or influence the mood of not only ourselves but with those around us. I see this energy and wish to recreate it in my pieces in order to ignite a revolution of happiness or joy with the viewer, and for the viewer to ignite and spark others into happiness. I believe “interaction” is a powerful tool that can be geared towards to a certain feeling or emotion, as in impressionistic art. I believe that interactions with humans amongst other humans are very powerful and can directly influence the outcome of some many other series of events or sets of circumstances. These subsequent events and circumstances can easily be negative or turn negative if any interaction in the long line of sequential events was not a pleasant one.

So it is with art that I explore the realm of interactive pieces and works that leave a different yet always positive interaction with the viewer, in hopes that, that one simple interaction would be a catalyst to more positive interactions and so on, creating a peace of mind that lets me feels as if I am controlling the production of potential good in the world.

Brian's Statement

2011-05-16T16:03:00.004-05:00

My goal as an artist working with new media is to deconstruct and reanimate
popular culture, reconfigure electronics to produce unnatural and undesired
effects, manipulate photographs and other images to humor, write remarkably,
find alternative routes in specific processes, creatively work through lengthy
processes and leave ordinary end results or little tangible “artwork”, analyze the
Internet as a source of inspiration, show people the world from unique perspectives,
understand “viral”, interchange old and new technologies to create innovative
pieces, build it bigger, and ultimately create work that is thoughtful, interesting, and
advertises my name.

Sarah's Statement

2011-05-16T16:00:00.001-05:00

This quarter has really made me question why I became an artist in the first place. I have dealt with difficult in art in the past but this quarter has almost pushed me over the edge. I have been asked more often than not this quarter about why I create art. My answer is I don't know. I have a professor this quarter (like most students will at some point have), who seems hate everything I create and say. This has been extremely difficult for me to handle. Not because I am unable to handle criticism but because if I create art she does not like then it reflects on my grade. But if I do create art she likes it is not really a representation of me. I have struggle to figure out who I am as an artist and I can honestly say I do not know. I create art to express who I am and how I feel but is that enough? Do we create art for a viewer or for ourselves? If it is just for ourselves then why do we have galleries? I don't know. Thats all I can really give up at this point in my life. I don't know, (much about anything in fact). I guess I create art because it feels good.

Jennifer's Statement

2011-05-16T15:59:00.002-05:00

As an artist, my use of video art is somewhat mediocre, but in ways that are useful or purposeful to my needs. I feel little need to make videos for the sake of making videos, but the more I think on it, the more impossible it is for me to negate the idea. Since I want to use video as a means of documentation, it is hard to NOT make videos for the sake of making videos. I want to document the processes I undergo when creating art, when building pieces, the trial and error of in a field where it is so damn hard to succeed. And yet, because I have never truly experienced it before, or felt that it was necessary to create something reflective of such things, I now want to use video art to capture emotions, reactions, or really anything. Since I want to document my artwork, or creative processes, it would be difficult not to document the emotions that are involved in the making. And I would like these videos to be naturalistic, even minimal, despite that there may be a copious amount of them to come. But all together, I want to use video to record things raw, and potentially unedited, if not just minimally edited.

Jeffery's Statement

2011-05-16T15:57:00.001-05:00

I am a filmmaker at heart. To me, film (and by film I am referring to all forms of moving pictures) is the marriage of all arts. It is the culmination of thousands of years of artistic expression. Every aspect of the creation process is important to me and I work hard to learn as much as I can about each one. For me, there is no more complete way of expression, ranging from documentation of life and reality to the completely surreal.

My interest in film is not necessarily in recreating reality, however. I read once that film is nothing more than holding a mirror up to society and then filming the mirror. And while there may be merit to that method of looking at film, I would find it more interesting to hold a fun house mirror up and filming that. Real doesn’t always equate to interesting. And many times, the lack of reality is what it takes to move the viewer. Which reminds me of what the great Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz said, "Art is not trying to be accurate, but art may be more accurate than science."

Rebecca's Statement

2011-05-16T15:56:00.001-05:00

Art isn’t an easily definable or attainable thing. If only someone had told me before I was hooked. In trying to figure out what it is, or in which ways one can go towards it, many things become more and less comprehensible. I adore and detest each attempt of making art, but the inquisitions sometime give way to moments of beauty and intrigue before I am confounded yet again. Process, color, texture, gesture, ambiance and so many other elements influence me and call me to animate and correlate them in hopes of creating something worth being called art.

Claude's Statement

2011-05-16T15:55:00.001-05:00

Being creative is challenging. However, this is exactly what makes it beautiful. The importance of doing the things we do, I feel, is that it offers an immense opportunity to develop as people and as creative individuals.

Zach's statement

2011-05-16T15:54:00.002-05:00

I think of art as a form of communication. While art's lack of a codified set of meanings means it can rarely produce as specific a meaning as a codified form of communication such as spoken language, I find that it can also pack a much greater emotional punch than simple speech. That's not to discount art that involves speech in any way, as speech can be used to create art in the same way that paint or metal can. I also think art is defined by the user, if someone identifies something as art they have made it into art themselves as people will then begin attempting to assign meaning to it.

Brendan's Statement

2011-05-16T15:53:00.002-05:00

When I went home for my freshman summer of college I suddenly gained an enormous amount of time. Without the burden of available friends. a job, or places to go, I did what anyone in my situation would do--make a movie with Lego people. I did all the voices myself, distinguishing the ladies with a fairly pronounced falsetto. All of this occurred while my parents were away so I could rant and rave and use all the profanity I preferred. (For realism's sake of course).

When I returned to school, the movie was a hit (at least among the people I knew well enough to humor me). With this experience in hand, and under the looming deadline for declaring a major, I picked film studies. The more I thought about it the more I had always enjoyed movies. Since I was a kid I wanted to be Marty McFly or Indiana Jones or Luke Skywalker. Considering that wasn't exactly possible, I figured I might as well try to craft the kind of stories I thought were the Iliads of our era.

To be able to relate a good story--one that sticks with people throughout their entire lives--is a pretty amazing thing. To do that on a mass scale and for fabulous profit is beyond even that. As an artist I hope to create interesting things from nothing. And if doing that keeps me from pushing papers no one will ever give a second thought to, so much the better.

Marie's Statement

2011-05-16T15:42:00.002-05:00

I attended a lecture this week by Laura E. Perez and Queen Brooks on spirituality in artwork. They specifically addressed that spirituality didn’t have to mean God or Spirit (with a capital s.) Instead, they talked about spirituality as an expression of the disembodied, and that could mean a god, a spirit, Gods, Spirits, or even the spirit of self as seen through human interaction, emotion, and desire. Love is spiritual. Sex is spiritual. Pain is spiritual. Everything I go through on a daily basis is linked to my spiritual experience as a human being. I really related to this, and it helped me to embrace the idea of spirituality in my artwork even though I would never previously have called myself spiritual. I spend so much time trying to express feelings through both the words and imagery in my artwork. What about this isn’t spiritual?

Additionally, Queen Brooks showed us this one piece that she saw as a self-portrait. She told us a story about how this one woman walked up to the piece, spent so much time with it, and then pulled away crying, claiming that her husband just had to purchase the piece because she related to it so much. Queen was surprised because she put all of her feelings into this work, and yet someone else found herself in it. This is what I want to happen with my art.
All of my work this year has been a physical representation of what I’m thinking while creating the pieces. They are excessive, non-narrative, hard to follow, and 100% about me. I’ve tried to display them in an aesthetically appealing manner so that viewers are first pulled in by the visual content and then as they start to break apart both the words and visuals they become interested in the emotional concepts. It’s not important to me that the viewers know exactly what’s I was thinking when I put down the symbols, objects, words, and colors. Instead, I hope that some of the ideas the viewer can divulge and relate to, comparing it to their own lives.

I’m also engrossed specifically in the ways a person makes themselves vulnerable by producing artwork about all their thoughts with no editing. I write down something that I wouldn’t even tell my best friend, but then I paint over it, only allowing some of the words to show through. In this manner, my struggle to become accessible, my reluctance, my vulnerability is shown. This process is the exact process that can happen when a viewer relates so strongly to a piece that he or she allows the work and concepts to engulf him or her and share his or her spirituality. The person allows his or her walls to be broken down and shows in a physical way the ways in which the art touched their disembodied soul.

Blake's statement

2011-05-16T15:38:00.002-05:00

I make art as a way of understanding. Making, for me, is a way to process information and perhaps come to some level of comprehension I wouldn't have otherwise. I make art because I want to take something I am thinking about, something I cannot find or see, and make it visible. There are times when I am not entirely sure what I am doing in my work, or why I am doing it, and those are the most exciting avenues I pursue. By creating something and allowing for new, unexpected things to happen, I create work that often branches and creates a new interest, it becomes work that feeds itself.

In my current work, I am investigating the nature of desire, what it is to want and be wanted. I am most interested in foods that act solely as objects of desire. Foods that have no nutritional value, and exist solely for our pleasure. I am extremely fascinated by want gone wrong, turned to gluttony or sickness. I am exploring the tipping point, when wanting one cookie turns to five, turns to ten, turns to sickness.

Ultimately, my work investigates what we desire, and through various means turn them toward repulsion. Human beings are creatures fraught with desire, consumed with animal longings for food and sex. My work is a reevaluation of these longings, an attempt to make visible my unease with the nature of want.

Marshall's Statement

2011-05-09T17:01:00.000-05:00

I draw, paint, record music, and make videos. I partake in these activities because I feel I have the ability to and it would be unjust to squander that. I also am at my most artistic when I feel I have something to say, a valid point to make. I always try to improve my skills and challenge myself not to be a better “artist”, but to be a better “Marshall”. I don’t believe in standards based on skill in art. The only bad art in my opinion is art made with the wrong intentions such as selling a product or acquiring fame. My life motto is ( Make. Do. And Make Do. ) The “Make” is my art, the “Do” is activism, humanitarianism and general productivity, and the “Make Do” is the rest of my life; taking whatever hand is dealt to me and using critical thinking to get by.

Ryan's Statement

2011-05-09T16:59:00.001-05:00

The focus of my works is based upon user centric interactivity and
organic motion within a digital environment. I research and try to understand
other people’s cognitive patterns so that I can seek new ways of interaction
within an environment using multiple tools, mostly consisting of various 3D,
graphic, and animation platforms. Each one of my interactive works is a hybrid
of these different digital mediums.

Working on a project for commercial purposes can sometimes be very cut
and dry to get the user what they expect as quickly as possible and in an
unambiguous matter. But understanding the process of how that system works
and what the user is expecting can be a pleasure and challenge, because it
allows me to make the interaction and object attractive or playful – creating a
better user experience.

In the book, “Programming Interactivity”, the author Joshua Noble
mentions interactive art being, “...the interaction between the viewer and the
system that the artist has created”. When conceptualizing ideas for a new work, I
think about the situation the viewer will be in and how they’ll interact with the
work within its given environment. I also think of a narrative or story, and try to
tell it not by words, but by the actions and reactions of the created system.
Allowing the user to explore and interact with a work to come up with their own
conclusions is a lot more intriguing to me than having them follow direction. This
system, that’s designed for a specific environment and task, overall exists to try
to be a thought provoking art experience.

My latest works have been a hybrid of various applications and hardware
modifications to design a system to allow a user to experience a body of work
with their own body. This experience is an evolution of my previous interactive
works. In the past, my works were dependent upon a monitor, keyboard, and
mouse. This type of interaction, called natural user interfaces, has recently
made huge strides of progress in the field of technology. The latest progress in
this field is being able to track an object or person’s whole body in three-
dimension through real-time video at a cost-effective budget. This can allow an
artist, designer, or developer to use that extra data to create new types of user
interaction that we haven’t experienced before. My future works will continue to
follow these new technology trends and being able to manipulate them in a way
to create new experiences.

Emily's statement

2011-05-09T16:51:00.002-05:00

As a photographer I strive to tell a narrative in a physically compelling way. As a video artist I use my foundation of photography and give the concept a new platform. I am also developing my software skills so that I may be able to convey my artistic concepts with the appropriate medium and in a resonating way.

In my current project I chose to focus on giving a voice to people who have been through adversity and have found a positive outlet or means of coping. I am using still portrait and documentary photography as well as audio recording of the subjects speaking to create an interactive DVD project. I am interested in using technology and art to display each narrative in a non-linear way and to link the real life stories in order to show a common thread of hardship and hope between humans.

I enjoy using humans as my main subjects, but I do not forget to utilize their environment. Whether it is a model or a person off the street, I believe that both my photography and video work display formal characteristics like composition, consideration of color, and the use of space.

I very much enjoy the relationship between artist and subject. I seek for the opportunity to get to know their story, or in a staged situation, it is intriguing to create the subject’s story. This is important to me because I believe that the value of life is found in relationships. I would love to harness this value of life to influence and inspire others. We are shaped by the relationships, big or small, positive or negative, in our lives. My practice allows me to personally grow through my relationship with the subject and enables the viewer to be influenced by their relationship with the subject as well. It excites me to join together what I love to practice and what I value most in life.

Briana's statement

2011-05-09T16:43:00.000-05:00

I aim to create visual solutions that are pleasing to the eye and compelling to the soul. I am a creative problem solver, an immersive learner, and above all, I am passionate about using art to impact people and transform society. My purpose has always been to channel my creativity in a meaningful way. My thinking combines logic and function with emotion and innovation. My strength lies in taking the intangible and making it accessible. I am convinced that you learn art not just through art, but through experiencing life. Just as art shapes culture, my cultural identity has shaped my art. I am an artist because it gives me the opportunity to be a storyteller that expresses and communicates complexities.

As a visual communicator, I find where design, art, photography, and video making can intersect. There are many aspects of video shooting that are in the domain of design. When graphic design tools are combined with other forms of media, it can be very powerful in informing, engaging, and educating audiences. I hope to present a topic visually and help people understand and connect in a way that you cannot do through reading a book. Artists can translate any topic and make an impact. In my work, I am driven by a mission and deep sense of responsibility. By telling a powerful, moving, and emotional story with a message, I strongly desire to inspire people to take action and do something. Ultimately, I want to create something with a large human goal and become an active producer of information.

Brian's statement

2011-04-17T16:00:00.001-05:00

My goal is to manipulate modern computer culture, including social networking sites, to understand and expose their underlying intentions and discover what these sites do in order to create comfort in users. I'm also interested in constructing and re-imaging my internet identity to create a digital avatar representative of my personality. in other words, I'm selling my soul to the internet with time, tweets, and the simple copy, post, and share nature of rehashed blogs to trick myself into an increased wealth of knowledge and importance.

Jim's statement

2011-04-17T15:52:00.001-05:00

I am fascinated with three dimensional spaces, environments, and atmospheres. Stories and digital media that take your imagination to a space so that you can move through it, and even interact with it, create incredible experiences. My works often involve either taking the viewer on a journey or giving a user an environment to get lost exploring in. All spaces tell a story about what they are, what they were, and how time and events have left their marks. This notion has been giving me new interest in creating spaces that have their own narration, whether that is influencing a person's path, or simply by leaving clues in the space and its design for someone to find.

Laura's statement

2011-04-17T15:44:00.002-05:00

I would not call what I create "art" just as any therapist would not call their client notes a "novel". What I do is not firstly for the enjoyment of others, but instead a means to deal with and sort out the multitude of neuroses with which I struggle internally. I often find that expression through words either falls short of what I am trying to convey or possibly that the thoughts I am trying to convey are too complex, temporally, spatially, and dimensionally, that the linear structure of a sentence is incapable of carrying them across to an audience or even to myself. When I write and try to make sense, my sentences jump or ramble. I would not consider myself a person with artistic talent, but I would consider myself a person who has an intense drive to create and express what I have in me. When I create, I almost never enter into a project with an idea in mind. I prefer to dive in head first and hope that the water materializes beneath me before I hit the bottom. The water in this clichéd metaphor would be the primitive, guttural reaction, the fight or flight response, pure sympathetic nervous system. It is the truest form of self-expression, because there is no forethought. There is just you and whatever is inside of you. It is honest. You have no time in which to concoct a lie. It is not usually pretty or pleasurable to unearth. It is not usually something with which I am completely comfortable sharing. But I've tried therapy, that doesn't work. I've tried creating, that works.

Jeffrey's statement

2011-03-20T17:55:00.001-05:00

My interest in film is not necessarily in recreating reality, however. I read once that film is nothing more than holding a mirror up to society and then filming the mirror. And while there may be merit to that method of looking at film, I would find it more interesting to hold a fun house mirror up and filming that. Real doesn’t always equate to interesting. And many times, the lack of reality is what it takes to move the viewer. Which reminds me of what the great Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz said, "Art is not trying to be accurate, but art may be more accurate than science."

David's statement

2011-03-20T17:51:00.001-05:00

The mediums of the technology world are what I am most drawn to as an artist.
I believe that after a long experience in the design world, that art is the natural fit
for me.

Faustine's statement

2011-03-20T17:50:00.002-05:00

Cartoons, video games, and other elements of pop culture are large influences in my art. My work is an escape from reality. I believe that living in the real world is harsh enough, so my work is all about having fun. I enjoy creating things that, on first glance, appear friendly and pleasant, but upon closer inspection, are actually malicious.

James' statement

2011-03-20T17:49:00.001-05:00

I am full of color yet as transparent as glass; loud and obnoxious yet quiet and humble. My work is vulnerable and revealing, yet secretive and emotionless.

Recent inspiration is derived from the aesthetics of the out of focus areas of photography, or bokeh. They are not random but they are not entirely predictable. The mind’s ability to recognize a space without discernible landmarks is what drives my most recent works. We each may see the same imagery, yet each sees it differently by associating it with images from our memory. Therefore the actual location is left ambiguous as the viewer substitutes in their own recognizable locations.

Jenna's statement

2011-03-20T17:48:00.001-05:00

Being adopted has affected most of my life in ways that I am just now beginning to realize. My works are either explorations of my adoption or some sort of emotion, feeling or state of mind. These paintings contain personal fragments of my life, revealed through transfers of actual adoption documents, water based materials, threads, and strings. Much of my recent work has been collage based and uses the techniques of adding and subtracting layers. Building up and taking away layers has always been part of my life.

Marie's statement

2011-03-20T17:47:00.002-05:00

It makes sense to me to make artwork about myself. I can only relate to the
emotions of others, but emotions and experiences that I have dealt with personally,
I can fully conceptualize. The hard part from there is then displaying these concepts
and emotions to others in a way that is interesting.

I have been dealing with this idea since the summer. I studied abroad
in Greenwich (London, England) and we had a poetry week in which one of the
assignments was to take a walk and write down not only what you were seeing
but what you were thinking. The poem became a mapping of my mental state. I
enjoyed working that way in my journal, sometimes just writing whatever and not
allowing myself to even stop for a second to think. It was interesting to see how my
environment influenced my thoughts and how each thought lead to another.

Since I’ve been back to Columbus, I have been working this same process into
my artwork. All of my paintings, and even my glasswork, have reflected a mapping
of what I’m thinking of while creating the pieces. They are excessive, non-narrative,
hard to follow, and 100% about me. I’ve tried to display them in an aesthetically
appealing manner so that viewers are first pulled in my the visual content and then
as they start to break apart both the words and visuals they become interested in
the emotional concepts. It’s not important to me that the viewers know exactly
what’s going on in the piece. Instead, I hope that some of the ideas the viewer can
divulge and relate to, comparing it to their own lives.

I’m also engrossed specifically in the ways a person makes themselves
vulnerable by producing artwork that it about all their thoughts with no editing. I
write down something that I wouldn’t even tell my best friend, but then I paint over
it, only allowing some of the words to show through. In this manner, my struggle to
become accessible, my reluctance, my vulnerability is shown.

In Art553, I have attempted to show this same process through real-life
video imagery. Everything is shot from my perspective and the pictures are things
that I experience almost every day. The jumping, quick, unwarranted, clips are a
mapping of my thought processes and I have placed them in a narrative in which I
ask someone their name and then completely forget it because I am thinking about
these thoughts instead. The piece has been titled “Elsewhere” to introduce that
my mind is working outside of the situation I am in during the film. Because we
naturally want to place a narrative to most film we see, the viewer might also find
the leaping imagery leading their minds elsewhere in trying to understand the narrative if they can find one at all.

This film is staccato, redundant, and fast which is exactly how my mind
works and at the same time I do not put the ideas out there clearly to expresses
my interest in vulnerability. While there is a minor theme to the images, I do not
allow that to be obvious because it is something personal and secretive. This piece
stays true to my visions in trying to visually express my thoughts and emotions and
somehow making them visually appealing to others.

Courtney's statement

2011-03-20T17:46:00.001-05:00

I want to give my audience the opportunity to feel something. I am interested in capturing, recreating, and sharing sensations. My artistic research considers the contrast of movement and stillness. I experience the world through visceral moving images; I hope to emphasize the subtle motion we each forget day to day.

My history with dance and video informs my perspective. The body and the camera are both organic projections of the self and yet they are both mechanical. In this era, find solace in the conversation
between biology and technology. We haven't lost in touch with ourselves, we're transforming.

Samantha's statement

2011-03-20T17:45:00.001-05:00

This quarter, I wanted to create work that was entertaining, visually stimulating, and enjoyable to experience. Typically, the work I create is stays within the realm of drawing and painting; however, when I do branch out to try different mediums I like to keep a consistency throughout the body of work. By taking this class and thinking about image in a different way, I was able to tackle different concepts of movement, light and color. This video course not only challenged me by forcing my hand out of the direct work and to rely on the technology to translate the vision I had for the project.

I chose to focus on color and movement as I would in my paintings and drawings by creating a collaged motion picture of still images. I wanted a whimsical and slightly dark comic audio track to accompany it so I chose copyright free radio shows from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. I feel that my love of the impressionist era was somehow translated through my video and could not be happier that it presented itself and inadvertently created a tie to my other work.

Brendan's statement

2011-03-20T17:44:00.000-05:00

Bryant's statement

2011-03-20T17:42:00.002-05:00

Art making for me used to be purely recreational. When I decided to pursue media and other art mediums academically my preparation and process changed. When exploring a project I typically turned to a meditative exercise to achieve some creative ideas. Applying a sequence from that idea the remainder of the work generally falls into place organically. This process would be delicate, because again, I would have no deadlines and art making was purely for my own entertainment and a means to let off some creativity. Now, when I am given an assignment I try to revisit the practice that got me here with art work that I produce. If I struggle with ideas or feel pressured to produce work, forcing myself to create great ideas in a certain frame of time, I usually fail. As the deadline gets closer I get more anxious then, BAM! Breakthrough. It's a great feeling and I can attribute many works to that surmountable breakthrough. The feeling it gives me to come up with something late and then be able to get excited to see its completion then a reaction from my peers is why I am so amped that I pursued this path.

Jonathan's statement

2011-03-20T17:38:00.005-05:00

The main reason I do what I do is communication. Through storytelling, and specifically the
use of video/film medium, I can communicate with people on an entirely new level. I’ve
found I primarily have two options when it comes to communicating through video. First,
I can imitate mainstream and classic techniques in order to dictate to audiences a certain
feeling about what I shown on video. Secondly, I can attempt to simply present a subject
without any major influences on how an audience should react. I enjoy doing both, and
communicating through video/film allows me to communicate new idea’s, experiences and
emotions using either option. I think there is so much in life that is “new” to someone, and
video has great potential to deliver that.

Zack's statement

2011-03-20T17:38:00.001-05:00

For me, art is synonymous with the ability to evoke emotions. The best way
I’ve found to do this is through moving images, which mostly take the form of
cartoons. Through my narratives, I project fantastical worlds and the characters
that dwell within them, simultaneously creating a new fictional place and indirectly
probably expanding the reality of some parallel dimension that only exists because
of the imaginations of people in this dimension.

Art isn’t so much a business to me, and as such I can’t honestly say it’s done
with a goal in mind. The stories I tell exist in my head, and the characters are as real
as any person I know. I have this nature urge to talk about them and share them
because I feel like if I don’t, then their existence will be lost once I’m gone, and I
can’t imagine a fate worse than that. I’m essentially the intermediary that allows the
fictional creatures I create to exist within this world.

Benjamin's statement

2011-03-20T17:34:00.004-05:00

Remember, art may or may not be true. Because, all truth is independent inside the sphere of influence upon which it has been placed. It is specific to the single entity that holds the ability to discern between truth and error. If one has not this ability, they are in ignorance. If they then are ignorant, then they are innocent. If they are innocent, then they cannot be held accountable to any law, statute, and are not held down by the laws of justice or mercy.

Let art-makers be true, should they possess the ability to discern and make known truth and not embellish the falsehoods of half-truths, lies, deceit, innocence, ignorance, the unknown, the rigid, the stale, harsh, evil, rancid, gooey, slimy, stinky, stupid, dumb, and retarded within their artworks.

To those who know not the truth, don’t worry about it, you may or may not be right about the art you make in its relativity to truth; Unless, truth is important to you. It is to me.

Truth, even though independent, when applied will always be true by it’s own evidence. It is a one-sided Boolean. Hurrah!

Truth is gauged by how long it will hold. The longer something remains true, the deeper the truth. Its influence is further in. The further in the influence the more pure it is. The purest form of truth is the one that connects inside the deepest part of your being, one that stretches you, you feel yourself grow, you expand, the truth is warm and growing, you become truth. You want this; you need this. The purest form of truth will make you all that you can become.

Art may or may not hold this. Of this, we are judges. Time alone, is no judge. People vary, but the pure sure form of truth will prevail inside the one who knows. Truth is unchanging. It is the sure rock, surer than anything people may see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. It goes beyond these. It tells you who you are. If you care about that, this may be important to you. It is to me.

Search truth. Detect truth. Live truth. May the truth, be known.

Katelyn's statement

2011-03-20T17:29:00.002-05:00

It's taken me my whole life up until now to realize that I'm not perfect. Not perfect like I'm
entitled and nothing I can do is wrong, but perfect as in I expect the art that I make to be a success
every time. Perfect colors, perfect line weights, perfect anatomy.. everything. I used to spend countless
amounts of stress and effort trying to get what I make to be exactly the way it should be. In the end, I
would wind up disliking whatever I could make because it was never exactly what I wanted. After a
break from the art-making process, and a change of scenery by attending University, I was able to wrap
my head around the idea that sometimes accuracy isn't everything.

One of the ways I was able to use imperfection successfully in my work was through animation.
After doing it the boring way to learn the basics, I could really stretch my wings and complete two
films I can really be proud of. By working on an animation without the pressure of it being completely
visually accurate or “perfect”, I could let the emotion and movement be the major strong point of the
film. If I had to bog myself down by making the animation completely technically animated,
comparable to Disney or Miyazaki, I would have been incredibly discouraged a long time ago.

Perfection is something that I will always strive for in my work but the definition of it has
changed. No longer do I use it as a comparison of my own work to other's, but rather as a never-
attainable goal that keeps me working and creating. I hold steadily to the phrase, “never become
complacent with your work. Once that happens, you will cease to create anything great.”

Emily's Statement

2011-02-27T18:00:00.000-05:00

As a photographer I strive to tell a narrative in a physically compelling way. As a

video artist I use my foundation of photography and give the concept a new platform. I

am working this double-edged sword so that I may be able to choose the most

appropriate medium and create resonating art. With these two mediums, I can either

create a documented narrative or present a staged scene to achieve the appropriate

concept.

In my most current video art project, I use still photography to create a stop action

narrative in a staged environment. As my art grows within video, I would like to

experiment more by using a documentary approach to tell the narrative of an individual.

In both documentary and staged approaches, I enjoy using humans as my main

subject. Whether it is a model or a person off the street, I like to capture my human

subjects within their environments to create an evoking imagery. I believe that my work

in both photography and video ban be linked by my use of human subjects, the telling of

a narrative, and the formal characteristics I chose to emphasize, like composition,

consideration of color, and the use of space and depth.

My practice first requires a concept. Then I chose which approach, documentary

or staged, would be most beneficial to portraying that concept. From there I search for

the right human subject. If I am searching for a person to document, I research and talk to

people groups in order to find a person with a relative story to share. If I am looking for a

model to use I take into consideration whether I want them to look natural or staged, the

gender, and their personality in front of a camera.

I enjoy the relationship between photographer/videographer and subject,

especially the opportunity to get to know their life story, or in a staged situation, it is

intriguing to create the subject’s story. This is important to me because I believe that

the value of life is found in relationships. I would love to harness this value of life to

influence and inspire others. We are shaped by the relationships, big or small, positive or negative, in our lives. My practice with both mediums allows me to personally grow

through my relationship with the subject. It also enables the viewer to be influenced

by their relationship with the subject and concept. I am continually attempting to

successfully display one’s story or reveal one’s personality within a single image or

a small series of images, which will then enable me to better display it with video. It

excites me to join together what I love to practice and what I value most in life.

Through this connection between my subjects and I, I hope to create photography

and videography that evokes a response and leaves a lasting impression on the viewer.

This can be a difficult task, but when executed properly, it can result physically and

emotionally as something beautiful. This deep beauty captured within art is what drives

my practice.

Amany's Statement

2011-02-27T17:53:00.001-05:00

I like expressing myself and my opinions using art because it allows me to use very attractive and interesting ways to prove and perform my point of view. I like to let people see the world through my eyes and think the same way my mind does. Art has a huge impact on kids and adults. I also like how much fun people gain when they enjoy a piece of art. Thus entertaining others and enlightening them is very important issues to me. Moreover, art allows my to use abnormal ways and helps me achieving the impossible that cannot be achieved in the real life.

Joshua's Statement

2011-02-27T17:45:00.001-05:00

As an artist who takes pictures, I feel obligated to document experiences that
describe our temporal nature, known more commonly as life. As humanity reaches
new heights of exploration, of discovery, creation and invention—some may argue
that today humans are better than the day before. Like the prescribed recipe for
evolution, we are designed to operate within social norms, to produce a better,
smarter, and stronger generation—for the betterment of mankind. I am interested
in illustrating this cycle of preservation, our attempts to remain fossilized in an
environment which will always prevail in our erasure.

I am jealous of those who believe in the afterlife. For those who do not
believe, we recognize that the true reality is consciously unbearable. A trip to
blissful heaven is a clever disguise for an eternity of nothingness, but better yet
proves to be an elegant example of checks and balances derived by those in power.
It is this idea that gives me anxiety; it is this idea that keeps me awake at night. My
art serves as a catharsis—freeing me from my fear of the inevitable.

Through contemporary photographic processes, the photograph operates as
a document to the performances that are shown before the camera. Viewers are
perceived as unaware voyeuristic participants of the bizarre rituals shown. My
performances, often including the manipulation of the body surface, become the art
itself. The fear of suffocation, the tangibility of the material, or the feeling of the
execution of an unknown action is what I find most interesting. Through the
photographic window, viewers are invited into these intimate illustrations of the
sublime.

Molly's statement

2011-02-27T17:26:00.002-05:00

When I make things, my first thought isn't whether or not it's artistic. My main goal is to make something I'm proud of and something that people will enjoy watching. I truly believe that the chief purpose of art is for people to enjoy it. When I make anything I tend to make it silly or funny and I actually have difficulty writing, drawing, or filming anything serious. There are enough serious things in life. Art should be fun. So I guess that's my statement: art should be fun and enjoyable, and that's always what I try to do.

Cory's Statement

2011-02-27T17:21:00.001-05:00

I create art because I enjoy the challenge. I enjoy the challenge of finding an idea, and even if I don't particularly like or enjoy the ideas I develop, I enjoy molding and building these ideas into a final product that I can look at with satisfaction. Art, for me, is the struggle to find satisfaction in your ideas.

Chris' Statement

2011-02-27T16:57:00.001-05:00

I guess I like to 'see' things and therefore have always been a visual learner as they say. I think this is what drew me into photography as my medium of the art world. I don't think everything I create is art, but I’m not sure if it's what you create that is always art, maybe the art is in how you create it. Art is the ultimate problem-solving tool. When I look at how to photograph something. When i see photos that lack vision i wish that the photographer just asked what else they could have done to put some life in it. I think that is the art. Recognizing the life in something and what it took to create that life.

Matt's Statement

2011-01-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

I create art because I like comparing my perspective with others’. I like hearing what people think of my visions and ideas. There are a thousand ways to look at something that inspires you. Go to a gallery or look at an animated video, there are renditions trees, faces, buildings, food, etc. – all of these things are seen differently by every artist. Not a single work shares an identical look. It amazes me how people can manipulate and interpret common things. Creating art an experiencing others’ art is extremely fun for me.

Ali's Statement

2011-01-30T22:15:00.002-05:00

I am an artist because it is only in art that I am able to express the person I really am. I am able to free myself from the expectations and pressure from other people. I can open up my soul and release my true being without being judged for the person I am at heart.

a statement

2010-12-05T23:48:00.002-05:00

Through my choreographic pursuits it is my deepest intention to reveal honest and
vulnerable expressions that display an expansive definition of technical skill. Working in this
manner allows me to contribute to the field of dance by continuing to embed the democratization
and inclusiveness into choreography and performance. I aspire to present work that awakens the
unconscious/subconscious body-mind and to use the language of the moving body to convey
what might not otherwise be articulated in words.

a statement

2010-12-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

Consider it Vertovian of me, but I believe the purpose of art is to do nothing more than imitate or, perhaps, emulate life. This isn’t to say that a realist painting is any more valuable than an impressionist or even experimental work of art. When it comes down to it even works such as Matisse’s blue nudes attempt to display and tell us something about life.

However, it becomes rather conflicting because art will never actually be able to succeed in imitating life, but that’s part of why I continue to strive to do it. That failure teaches us, or at the very least me, about life more than any other great accomplishment could. We learn from our failures and not our successes. I wrote down a memory the other day that will possibly express all of what I’m trying to say more clearly than a strict statement could. It was a memory I had as a child when I felt like God.

My father showed me how to create “infinity” by placing two mirrors across from one another. Of course my mother ruined it by pointing out God created everything that let us have the mirrors at all. But for a little bit I felt like the creator of something. That’s when I started making art. That’s when I devoted my life to trying to feel like God again. And that’s when I chose to pursue a life of intentional failure.

a statement

2010-12-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

I am not an artist.
An artist is an enthusiast, someone who creates something intentionally, whole-heartedly.
I create “art” for the sake of a grade, in a class, taught by an artist, surrounded by artists.
I do not make for a feeling, for thoughts or ideas, emotions, or to tell a story.
Just follow the syllabus.
This is not to say that I do not enjoy creating art, because I do.
Does this make me a fake?

I enjoy the process of bringing into existence a new form, a new shape or object.
I do so without an ultimate goal.
I create in the moment, without thought or emotion, no plan.
Only process.
Adding and attaching.
Subtracting and erasing.
Working.
Touching, feeling, breathing.
Moving.
I care only for aesthetic.
Does this make me superficial?

Only skin deep.
My work has texture, pores or facets if you will.
Caves and mountains and valleys and boulders.
This probably stems from being raised in nature.
It is clean and healthy.
Trees and fresh air.
The smell of wood.
Blisters from working the land.
Working the material.

Always tidy, neat, and very particular.
Like my life.
Never messy.
Life is messy.
It is beauty.

It is large and voluminous.
It is bright and obnoxious.
Or white as snow.
It is intriguing to the viewer.
It is secretive and revealing, at the same time.
Yet, has no meaning.

Maybe that means something.

My creations are never gory.
Never dark.
Far from depressing or sad.
Maybe a little dramatic.
Light-hearted and carefree.
Simple objects.
Clean lines.
Obsessive compulsive.
It is maddening.

I am creative.
But.
I do not want to be an artist.
I want to be surrounded by artists.
Surrounded by creative minds.

a statement

2010-12-05T23:01:00.002-05:00

One could imagine that the shapes on this page can align minds.

a statement

2010-12-05T23:00:00.001-05:00

I am an artist to evoke emotion in others and to share beauty with those who cannot find it in their everyday life.

a statement

2010-12-05T22:59:00.003-05:00

Art for me is a genuine chance for me to be me. I love to see other people’s art just as much as
creating it because, if you know the artist has a reputation for being honest, you get an inside
look at their deepest feelings and thoughts. I do video for my profession, but it is i for a major
fashion company and there is not much opportunity to be creative. Where I am always open to
show my creativity is in my music. When I am finished composing something new, weather I
create something in relation to my mood at the time, or interpreting a story, I know that the time
and hours that I have dedicated to that piece is the most genuine time of my life that I spent
well.

-Drew Love

a statement

2010-12-05T22:59:00.001-05:00

I am a visual communication designer. I chose to go in this direction because I like beeing creative. I think beeing a designer gives you something back, other jobs can´t do in this way, e.g. to put effort in a special work and create something new and see the endproduct and especially if the person I made it for is really happy with it, makes me happy and I know why I work for it so hard.

I try to orientate more in the digital direction learning to work with film, animation, movies, projections and touchscreens, so more the digital media.

For me this is important, I think the digital media is our future, like touchphones, laptops and so on are already. You can spread digital media much wider than a printed Object like a flyer or a business card.

I love watching film and I love working on it, it´s my passion. I like the media film so much, because everyone can understand motion pictures it´s a worldwide thing and it connects people in different ways. If it´s only that they have the same interests in film or its a topic they can connect with... I want to create things like that, media where people can indentiify with and talk about.

a statement

2010-12-05T22:57:00.000-05:00

Currently I am inspired by the limitations of the human ear’s ability to filter and
decipher content when it is overloaded with many audible sources simultaneously. When
we have too much discernible information that needs to be translated at once, momentary
confusion is created. We become unable to distinguish the origins and definitions of sound
as they begin to overlap and pile up. Could you detect your friend’s voice through the
soundtrack of 5000 commuting people in a subway station during rush hour? Amid any
auditory chaos we begin to listen for something familiar so that we can focus on, and find
relief in, the recognizable, like sailors searching for a lighthouse from the deck of a
battered ship lost in a stormy sea.

This year I began to record, edit, and mix, languages and sounds into abstract
compositions. This kind of sound composition is known as musique concrète. Musique
concrète is a form of electroacoustic music that utilizes acousmatic sound as a
compositional resource. The compositional material is not restricted to the sounds derived
from musical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as "musical"
(melody, harmony, rhythm, meter, and so on). While making this work, I have been
thinking about isolation, transparency, eavesdropping, observation, and the overall
misinterpretation of familiar sounds. I have become interested in removing definitions from
the words, and the origins from the sounds, that I use to compose these sound pieces. My
intent is to exhibit an auditory emotion that exists within the phenomena of audible chaos.
These “sound environments” are a result of simultaneously overlapping multiple languages
and sounds to create momentary confusion when listened to. I hope to entice listeners into
attempting to translate the unidentifiable. I want them to find a connection to the emotional
content that exists beyond the literal definition and identity of the words and sounds they
are hearing.

Some of this work exists within the space of handmade clear glass capsules that
need to be investigated by using a stethoscope. These compositions are intended to be
listened to one person at a time, in order to simulate the isolation of thoughts inside one’s
head and give each viewer an uninterrupted chance to connect with each work. I make the
physical forms in clear glass because the material is unassuming, transparent, and has an
honest quality about it. What you see is what you get, or so you think. Most of the time,
sound cannot be physically seen, is relatively invisible, and is usually only recognized by
the vibration of our eardrums. The clear glass mimics the invisible/transparent quality of
sound that you cannot see, but it also acts as an window or separator, which I intend as a
way to physically replicate what I call “immediate vicinity isolation bubbles” or IVIBs: those
zones of imaginary privacy that seem to surround people as they nonchalantly talk about
their private concerns in public while using cellular phones. The glass physically separates
each of the works interior audio narratives from each other, thereby allowing each
composition of musique concrète to coexist in the same exhibition space without detracting
from one another. Utilizing this material allows me to build a transparent environment that
can diminish, or erase, the audible from the viewer without isolating their visual
perspective, thus creating the false sense of privacy that one has inside a phone booth. An
exchange of private dialogues take place and where every passerby is witness to the event
of that conversation even if they cannot hear it. I am giving the audience permission to
penetrate this separating layer and granting them access to a private interior where they
can eavesdrop, one person at a time, and indulge a momentary fascination.

Robert Lewis

a statement

2010-12-05T22:47:00.001-05:00

What do I believe art is? If someone were to ask Anthony, "Anthony, what is art?" I wouldn't do a fine job of telling you; I could show you though. To me art evokes response, emotion, and thought. A broad definition I know, but I mean, what is art? It's subjective isn't it? It sure seems that way when one skims over the history of art in the public realm since the dawn of culture. Is it practical? Is it useful? Is it offensive? Is it just awful? Is it not art? Art is what I make of it. Out of the hum drum of everyday life, or out of the inner workings of my own mind. Art is in the mind. My Art and my concepts of art are mine alone.

a statement

2010-12-05T22:46:00.002-05:00

As an artist who takes pictures, I feel obligated to document experiences that
describe our temporal nature, known more commonly as life. As humanity reaches
new heights of exploration, of discovery, creation and invention—some may argue
that today humans are better than the day before. Like the prescribed recipe for
evolution, we are designed to operate within social norms, to produce a better,
smarter, and stronger generation—for the betterment of mankind. I am interested in
illustrating this cycle of preservation, our attempts to remain fossilized in an
environment which will always prevail in our erasure.

I am jealous of those who believe in the afterlife. For those who do not
believe, we recognize that the true reality is consciously unbearable. A trip to
blissful heaven is a clever disguise for an eternity of nothingness, but better yet
proves to be an elegant example of checks and balances derived by those in power.
It is this idea that gives me anxiety; it is this idea that keeps me awake at night. My art serves as a catharsis—freeing me from my fear of the inevitable.

Through contemporary photographic processes, the photograph operates as
a document to the performances that are shown before the camera. Viewers are
perceived as unaware voyeuristic participants of the bizarre rituals shown. My
performances, often including the manipulation of the body surface, become the art
itself. The fear of suffocation, the tangibility of the material, or the feeling of the execution of an unknown action is what I find most interesting. Through the
photographic window, viewers are invited into these intimate illustrations of the
sublime.

a statement

2010-11-21T17:46:00.003-05:00

I am an artist because it makes me feel alive. As cliché of a statement that may sound, it is one of the few things I do that make me feel that way. To be able to take thoughts and ideas in my head and put them into the world not only gives me a fantastic sense of accomplishment, but it enables me to express things I could not do in any other form. Working on movies in particular, be it shooting or editing, is the one activity where literally hours can feel like seconds. It’s something that takes me away from myself, and immerses me entirely.